Last November, a sitcom about an alien invasion landed on UK televisions and later this year, cinema-goers will be able to relive their 90s boyband love story with a film about Take That.
The common thread? Both were filmed in Clitheroe. English regions are at the forefront of the post-pandemic content boom and unique locations – like Clitheroe – are high in demand.
DAVE television comedy We Are Not Alone, an alien invasion featuring alien Joe Thomas of Inbetweeners fame and council ‘human liaison officer’ Declan Baxter, from Grantchester, was shot in Castlegate and the grounds of Clitheroe Castle, and Greatest Days – 'a story of love, loss and laughter', its promo says, which follows five boyband-obsessed best friends in the 90s who reunite more than 20 years later to see their heartthrobs Take That for one final time – was filmed in Clitheroe and its surrounding countryside last April, culminating with a song and dance number in the town centre and followed by shoots in London and Athens.
The cast and crew of the film based themselves at Clitheroe's The Grand Venue, a music venue, recording studios and skatepark.
‘It was pretty cool,’ The Grand’s head of management and HR Dave Thornber says. He’s working with young people at the former Victorian cinema to build their confidence and self-esteem through creativity.
The team here put on roughly 80 events a year, with a programme of events suitable for the whole town. They have a partnership with Ribble Valley Jazz and Blues – who would consider The Grand their home – and host an annual pantomime with about 4,000 children from 30 primary schools.
They have the odd tribute band and they host a lot of theatre, but most importantly, it’s their classes that really make this place stand out.
Film-making is an up-and-coming project The Grand is trying to support, and at the time of writing, they had just written a funding application for an annual project for aspiring young film makers, aged 15 to 21.
An hour-long premiere of Alfie: The Odd Job Boy of Clitheroe by film-maker Aaron Dunleavy was shown at the venue last summer, telling the story of local lad Alfie Cookson who made a name for himself doing odd jobs around his hometown.
He’s a bit of a rising star – a character, you could say – with a huge TikTok following and the occasional television appearance.
‘There is a growing culture of creativity, particularly amongst young film makers here,’ says Dave, who added that the venue also commissioned a 15-minute documentary celebrating the culture of its skate park by local film-makers Dirty Faces. ‘A lot of them tend to orbit The Grand.
‘Certainly, on that younger end, if you don’t want to live in Manchester, or a big city, this is a pretty cool place to live. We have amazing facilities; we have that culture and the small-town element of it where you can actually get connected pretty easily.’
Other classes include everything from Bunker Sessions music and video project for young artists (named after the former underground nuclear bunker) to The Grand Choir and its ballroom project Let’s Dance, to Radio Project in partnership with Ribble FM and MySkillz, a project with local primary schools for kids who would value a boost in their confidence. It's special in that it features the help of professional singing and dancing lessons, the use of recording studios and a red carpet debut...on camera.
GRAB, a project featuring students from Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, Ribblesdale High School, St Augustine’s RC High School and Bowland High School, is The Grand's inter-school talent show for the crown of the Ribble Valley.
Previous winners include Grace Davies, of 2017 X Factor fame; West End star Karen Wilkinson; and Jasper Cherry, a Britain’s Got Talent 2020 finalist.
‘It is not just a talent competition, though,’ Dave adds. ‘The unique thing about it is the schools will also send some of their young people who are maybe not so confident centre stage, and they will organise a project.
‘We’ll take four students from each school and they make up The Forum. They will split into a marketing team, a stage hosting team – the Dermot O’Leary’s – an operations team and a technical team.
‘Our two semi-finals this year are on February 22 and March 1, and the final is on Friday March 10. That is one of our real pinnacle projects.’
But probably their flagship project – and the coolest of the cool, Dave admits – is Be My Band. It’s a project where amateur musicians are put together to form a band and they perform at events throughout the year.
‘In the summer we do Reverb at Millyard,’ Dave says. ‘Last year we did it at Holmes Mill in the courtyard – we had an afternoon festival with kids from aged nine right up to bands with people in their 70s and 80s.
‘We are not just trying to make rockstars; it is about building confidence and self-esteem. One of our core beliefs is that we are creative beings and it is about allowing people to be that creative person they want to be.
‘That is why we exist really, and it is a real privilege.’
Ella Shaw, who runs Ella Shaw’s Academy of Arts at The Grand for ages four to 17, is another former winner of GRAB.
Her love for musical theatre began aged ten, when she got into singing and performing arts after being diagnosed with alopecia.
‘It saved me when I needed it the most,’ says Ella, who has run the academy for five years.
Her voice didn't go unnoticed, going on to sing at the Manchester Arena aged 16 and starring on Britain’s Got Talent in 2015, when she had just turned 18. She performed at festivals, supported American indie rock band Boys Life, and had her very own show on Vintage TV.
‘As much as I loved all of that, when I started singing teaching alongside it, I just thought, oh my goodness – these kids idolise me and what I have done and I felt like I was needed to serve a bigger purpose,’ says Ella, who last year went on tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and performed at the Royal Albert Hall.
‘It is really important to me that we nurture our children into believing in themselves in other ways, with self-confidence and social skills that they will take with them for the rest of their lives.
‘Anyone can say ‘follow your dreams’ but I am actually doing that first hand and the kids can see that. They have the freedom here to explore their imagination and their individuality, whilst being praised for it.’
thegrandvenue.co.uk
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